REFUGIO – The Refugio County Community Development Foundation board all agreed the abrupt resignation of director Joe Arredondo was a surprise.

But in its specially called meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 27, to discuss how to proceed, the board agreed to advertise anew for a replacement.

“My charge for the group today is we have to have a global approach,” said Refugio County Judge Rene Mascorro.

“It’s about us moving forward – don’t care to look back,” he added.

The board agreed that it learned from the experience.

In addition to agreeing to advertise again, the board agreed to pursue someone with more economic development experience, insist that the candidate move to Refugio County (with time allotted to move) and require a resume with three references.

Also noted was that the board prefers a candidate with a college degree.

To make the position more enticing, the board agreed to offer a salary of between $45,000 and $65,000, depending on experience and qualifications.

The board also received Arredondo’s resignation letter.

But another letter or statement was received but was not signed or dated. That statement supposedly came from Arredondo, but board member Bob Blaschke said the verbiage did not sound like Arredondo.

““I wouldn’t want to give any credibility to an unsigned letter,” Blaschke said.

“A lot boiled down to different expectations and interpretations,” said board president Ann Fierova.

Mascorro said the board should take the unsigned letter with “a grain of salt.”

“It’s important to find somebody for the county who is a good fit,” Mascorro said.

He said when a new director is found, the board should tell him or her, “Look, you’re going to work with everybody.”

Fierova said she had a lead on someone who might take the position and would check it out.

“He has an interesting track record and economic development history,” she said.